The present invention relates generally to publicly located photo kiosks or booths. More particularly, the present invention provides an image capturing device in a kiosk or photo booth that captures digital images of a user in the form of video and/or still pictures. Merely by way of example, the present invention can be applied to technologies such as telephone systems, wide area networks, Internet, and other communication means.
Game, amusement parks, shopping malls, and alike, have commonly distributed photo kiosks for users to take photographic images or Polaroid.TM. pictures of themselves for entertainment purposes. Various types of these photo kiosks have been used. As merely an example, conventional photo kiosks were generally configured in the form of booths or stalls. The booths were either totally or partially enclosed, where users or subjects could pose against a standard background fixed in the enclosed area or a "blue screen", while the users take a photograph of themselves. Accordingly, users or subjects pose in front of a fixed panoramic view or background of the "Grand Canyon" while in Arizona. Alternatively, the users pose in front of the Magic Kingdom.TM. castle at Disneyland.TM. park. In other cases, college or high school students have amused themselves by cramming a large number, often four or five, of themselves into the booth without any specific background for a group picture. After taking the photograph, the photo booth processes the photograph and delivers a finished print to the users. Typically, the finished product was in the form of a photographic image or print or, in some cases, additional prints of the same image could be obtained from the photo booth at an additional cost to the users.
Other types of photo booths having multiple or selectable backgrounds (or foregrounds) were also used or proposed. These photo booths or kiosks included types in which the enclosed or partially enclosed area has been eliminated and in which the user inputs a selected background image. Such photo kiosks, however, have not been user friendly in the sense of providing an effective visually interactive interface with the user to enable consistently acceptable results under the full control of the user and being able to attract users with effective visual displays. In addition, the finished product delivered to the user was in the form of a single image or in the form of additional and separate prints of the same image. Accordingly, the finished product has limited the use and appeal of such photo booths.
Most recently, sticker photo booths have been used. A user of this booth desiring a photograph poses directly in front of the kiosk to have a picture taken against a selected computer generated background and in which a multiple image format in the form of "stickers" on a single sheet is delivered to the user from a frozen image selected by the user. These photo booths have been quite popular in countries such as Japan. Sticker photo booths, however, have numerous limitations. These photo booths, in most cases, only produce stickers and cannot produce single photographic images. Additionally, sticker photo booths generally have been popular with the "younger" generation and have not been accepted uniformly with the "older" crowd. Although the above photo booths have had limited success, they simply cannot remain popular without improvements. Additionally, the above photo booths are limited in the type of output that is derived. In some cases, the output is a photographic image in the form of a Polaroid.TM. print. Furthermore, some conventional photo kiosks have generally penetrated the entertainment market and have not generally been accepted in commercial settings.
From the above, it is seen that an improved photo kiosk for entertainment purposes or communication purposes is highly desirable.